Duplantis delivered another peerless exhibition of cool pole vaulting to retain the world title he won last year, but unlike that occasion he was unable – just – to deliver an additional improvement to his world record as, after winning gold with a 6.05m clearance, he had three unsuccessful attempts at 6.23m.
The Olympic champion was Mr Cool during the announcements, not feeling the need to put on a vivacious show of signing, and stayed in that persona as the competition began in muggy conditions that would surely reminded him of happy days in Tokyo.
After clearing an opening mark of 5.55m, he skipped at 5.75m before taking orbit over the bar set at 5.85m. Only two others went over that height first time – France’s Thibaut Collet, for whom it was a personal best, and Kurtis Marschall, Australia’s double Commonwealth champion.
Collet was also playing things cool, and a fourth consecutive first-time clearance, at a personal best height of 5.90m, established him in the lead on countback over Obiena and Nilsen, with Duplantis having passed again until 5.95m.
Sadly for the Frenchman – and even more sadly for a French team with the Paris 2024 Olympics on the horizon and not a sniff of a medal here – he was unable to clear 5.95m or, after passing, 6.00m, finishing an excruciating fourth.
The defending and Olympic champion duly returned for another first-time clearance, and added another at 6.00m, with consummate ease.
But this was not to be an evening of plain sailing for the Swede, as Nilsen, Marschall – equalling his personal best – and Obiena, world bronze medallist in 2022, cleared 5.95m first time.
That was it for the Australian and US vaulters, who shared bronze with identical records. But the man from Philippines pushed on to clear 6.00m at his second attempt, equalling his own Asian record in so doing.
After Obiena had failed once at 6.05m, Duplantis cleared it with his customary insouciance. Title effectively retained.
But for the avoidance of doubt, the 23-year-old phenomenon produced a fifth perfect effort to fly over 6.05m and 6.10m. Obiena, meanwhile, didn’t get over either of those, confirming Duplantis as a double world champion.
The bar went up to 6.23m, one centimetre above the mark of 6.22m he set indoors earlier this year in Clermont-Ferrand, as he sought to follow up a world title with a world record as he did in Oregon last year.
No go with the first. The second, so close that the bar had a good think about it before deciding to join him on the landing mat. He was cool with that. Unbelievably, third time round, with even more of a delay, the same thing happened. Just the athletics gods having their little joke…
Story: World Athletics
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